5b + 6b : Seattle here I come / here I am

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Day 5b: Seattle here I come!

I flew to Seattle today - that was a bit of an ordeal. We boarded on time, left the game on time, and then after taxiing for a bit we parked in the middle of the tarmac somewhere and were told there's too much traffic near Seattle, so we're just going to chill here for 30min rather than circle above Seattle and waste fuel. Ok. 30min later the pilot comes back to say we're going to have to wait another 1h30...!!! That there's some air show and so there's way too much traffic and it's all backed up, but that they're trying to negotiate an earlier landing time. Needless to say we were just glad the plane was still on, so we had our AC lol. Thankfully it ended up only being another 20 minutes or so.

Seattle is so beautiful - or at least the area around the city / all the nature truly is. I love taking the train into the city, you get little snippets of that nature. By the time I got to the hostel, I basically dropped my stuff off and explored a bit around the area - I'm staying on the outskirts of Chinatown, so I went and checked out their mega food store which was fun just to see all the stuff that I had no idea what it was haha. They have a food court and tons of banh mi though, so I'll be back tomorrow.

Walking to the game was so much fun - it really is an invasion of Jays' fans and we come from all over. Sure, the vast majority are from the west coast, but you do get from across the country too. It's fun seeing the mixtures too - you have young families with their little kids, you have cute old couples in their 80s, you have groups of frat boys, you have parents with their adult children - you really have everyone!

Seats were good - I was sitting 1st row in the 300s because I refused to pay the marked up prices for these games down in the 100s. (Yes, marked up in the 300s too... but way cheaper with a better overall view). Basically my seats were hanging up over the dugout which was fun to watch some of the interactions and see who sits with who. There were two Mariner fans to my left, otherwise pretty much the entire section was Jays. It's honestly so cool hearing the "Let's go Blue Jays" chants when you're in other city - sure, we had them going in Phoenix and Oakland too, but there is no comparison. The poor Mariners' fans... like we legit take over. The staff at Safeco were great - they kept saying "Hello/Welcome Toronto" to fans as we'd pass by/order things, and there was even a stall in the building that had some Jays' stuff lol.

Oh, and the best? We actually won! I was stunned! haha. (Bullpen days usually aren't exactly... ideal. Neither is signing a guy like an hour before game time, but hey, it worked in our favour for once!) It was cool walking out of the stadium and once again having the "Let's go Blue Jays" chant going loud and strong.

I have to say, Safeco is my fav park so far - it feels gigantic, but you seem to have a great view everywhere. There are tons of spaces to watch the game from (other than your seats), lots of collective space to be used to watch the game, to eat, to just sit and chill (and in the 300s you have a nice view of the waterfront). The food choices are UNREAL - there is literally anything you could ask for. (Sidenote: in Oakland they had garlic fries everywhere and I didn't try them. I saw them everywhere here too so I'm like sure, why not? Omg they aren't kidding... there was like... 5 tablespoons of minced garlic haha. It was super good, but omg you just smell garlic EVERYWHERE). There's tons of space to walk around. Like I said, staff are friendly and are actually helpful... very nice park.

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Day 6b: Seattle here I am!

Lazy day today... I had to do laundry, so that took up a good chunk of time. Otherwise I went up to Pike Place Market forgetting what an absolute gongshow it is (especially when you have all the Canadians down for the Jays lol). It was cute seeing how the locals kind of embrace that though - a lot of merchants had 2 tip jars out - one that said Blue Jays, one Marines - and I heard two different street performers playing O Canada lol. Anyway, I really didn't stay long at the market because you could barely move and I'm not claustrophobic, but I like to not feel like a sardine thank you. Walking outside, I marvelled at the line to go to the original Starbucks. Like, I get it, I went the first time I came to Seattle too... but there line up TO GET INSIDE was easily 30 people deep. There is just no way.

I went off in search of the "Gum Wall" because it had popped up in my google map - lol what a find. It's this short little alleyway that is literally just COVERED with people's gum. Everywhere. All colours. Some lumps. Some balls. Some stringy pieces of goo. It's gum, it's there. It's so fantastically gross. Also, there were a bunch of stickers and graffiti nearby, so I had fun looking at that. I especially appreciated all the "lost signs" for Pablo the Burrito Unicorn. I love weird people with weird ideas.

Do you know what I don't love? How much the entire area along Pine / Pike Market / all the shopping area just reeks of pee though. I don't remember it being like this last time either. Apparently a lot has changed in 5 years haha.

Jays game again tonight - I figured I'd post now before I head out. Hopefully it's another good one!

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